Michael Eastman Photo
Rocco Landesman
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman has announced grant funding for six local projects. The awards are among “863 grants to organizations and individual writers across the country,” according to a press release issued by the NEA on Thursday.
The press release indicates: “The awards total $22.543 million, encompass 15 artistic disciplines and fields, and support projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Of those 863 grants awards, 823 are for projects at not-for-profit organizations that are creating works of art through commissions and artists residencies; engaging the public with works of art through exhibitions, tours, and festivals; furthering lifelong learning in the arts in schools, communities, and at arts organizations; or increasing community livability through the arts. The remaining 40 awards are made to individual writers who will receive creative writing fellowships totaling $1 million. Designed to give writers the time and freedom to pursue their work, the creative writing fellowships are the NEA’s most direct investment in America’s artists. The new fellows come from 20 states and the District of Columbia.”
According to the NEA’s press release:
Artspace received a $30,000 award “to support the presentation of temporary sculpture in Artspace’s urban pocket park.”
Long Wharf Theatre received a $20,000 award “to support the world premiere adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, adapted and directed by associate artistic director Eric Ting.”
Yale University Art Gallery received $68,000 “to support the exhibition Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861 – 2008 with accompanying catalogue.”
Yale Repertory Theatre received $35,000 “to support the world premiere of The Realistic Joneses, a new play by Will Eno, directed by Sam Gold.”
Yale-New Haven Hospital received $30,000 “to support Child Life Arts and Enrichment Program that engages professional artists to teach hospitalized youth to use video, digital photography, written and spoken word, and music in the creation of digital stories.”
Hamden writer and Quinnipiac University faculty member Katherine Leonard Czepiel received a $25,000 literature fellowship.
“These projects demonstrate the imaginative and innovative capacities of artists and arts organizations to enhance the quality of life in their communities,” Landesman was quoted as saying, about the 863 grant awards, in the NEA’s press release.
For a list of 2012 Connecticut NEA grant recipients, see this page.